


Traitor

by Captainrexsbiggestho



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Jesse lives alternate ending, Medical Procedures, i make my own canon thanks, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24014689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captainrexsbiggestho/pseuds/Captainrexsbiggestho
Summary: Rex wont stop till he finds Jesse
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

The dust still lingered, the air acidic and heavy. The exhaustion and grief weighing heavy on Rex’s shoulders, as heavy as the troopers he’d already dragged out of the wreckage, the soil further tarnished already blackened armour as he buried his lost brothers, he was their commanding officer, it was his duty to look after them even after death, even after they’d all tried to kill Ahsoka and himself, he wouldn’t abandon them. _I’m sorry, this wasn’t your fault._

There was still one helmet unaccounted for, Rex knew he would search until he found Jesse, he owed it to him, owed it to his brother to pay him the respects that he never got. The hours passed slowly as Rex sorted his through the rubble, with the time passing he was slowly losing any hope of finding his brother. Rex stopped, his weariness catching up with him, everything ached, his lungs burned, a lump in his throat that felt like it would never ease. In the quiet of his own grief Rex thought his fatigue was making him hallucinate, but he heard it again; a weak cough, someone was still alive.

The fatigue and pain were gone as adrenaline washed over him, he ran to the source of the weak cough, he could barely see the distinctive blue of the soldier’s gauntlet. “Just hang on trooper I’m getting you out of there!” Rex didn’t even know if the trooper could hear him, but it didn’t matter. He continued to toss the debris aside “Ahsoka! There’s a survivor!” He called out for help, Ahsoka quickly came over to help, lifting some of the heavier panels away, it seemed to drag on forever but the two eventually removed enough rubble to free the trooper, Rex took a sharp breath when he saw the distinctive republic cog on his helmet. “Jesse! Come on stay here brother!” his voice desperate. Blood had pooled up underneath where Jesse lay prone. Rex supported his head gently as he removed his helmet. Rex’s eyes scanned up and down his brother getting an idea of whether Jesse would make it, he decided to take the chance before searching his medpack for a painkiller. As he pressed the hypo into Jesse’s neck, he met his brother’s eyes, a look of pain and hate. “Traitor,” he managed to wheeze out as he stared at Rex, his pupils dilating back and forth.

“I know Jesse, I know. Traitor or not I’m getting you out of here.” Rex managed to lift his brother despite the protests from his aching muscles and the shriek of pain Jesse let out. Jesse’s hands weakly trying to fight but limply falling to his sides, only to raise them again.

Rex and Ahsoka worked to carefully lift Jesse out of the downed ship, despite his efforts to fight them, Ahsoka had stayed mostly silent at risk of agitating the wounded trooper. The two of them would get Jesse to a remote medical facility, no questions asked, the chip would have to come out when he was stable enough to handle it. That was if he made it that far, but Rex had to try, he’d try everything before he lost another brother.


	2. Holding on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex tries to keep jesse with him

The idea of transporting his wounded brother to a medical facility was quickly abandoned, Jesse was in no condition for flight and the small fighter was only a two-seater anyway. Rex continued to carry Jesse a way away from the crash site, away from the smoke and dust from fires that would continue to burn for days. Their small ship relocated, Ahsoka had quickly pulled the contents of the ship’s survival kit out and carefully laid out what small amount of provisions they had; enough food for at least a week, some hand tools, a knife and a heavy canvas to create a shelter. But the trooper laying prone, his breaths weakening with every minute needed more. _He needs a whole surgical team._ Rex’s thoughts drifted back to the wreckage, a silent nod to Ahsoka and she was gone.

The small med pack contained what was needed the most to keep Jesse alive. Rex looked down at his brother with sympathy, the man still weakly trying to fend off his help, the more Rex looked at him the more agitated he got. A quick jab with a hypo soon solved that problem, there wasn’t a lot, but Rex was hoping the small dose would sedate Jesse long enough to receive the treatment he needed. Rex felt a burning in his chest the moment he watched Jesse’s eyes roll back. Taking the shears from the kit he carefully cut away the charred blacks around Jesse’s arm; all troopers knew a basic amount of field first aid but Rex wasn’t sure this was something he could deal with, Jesse was still losing blood, had broken bones to no end and force knows what was going on internally; he needed blood and he needed it fast.

It took a couple tries but Rex eventually found the small artery in his own wrist; _should’ve listened to Kix more often_. Taping it in place, he made sure there was enough line so he could still move around to treat his brother, he found the vein in the crook of Jesse’s elbow quickly inserting the needle and watching the flow of bright red blood find its way down the thin tube to its recipient. Jesse was pale, like looking at a ghost, He had to find the bleeding and stop it, or his efforts would be in vain, Jesse was bleeding faster than he was taking in blood. As Rex began to remove what was left of Jesse’s burnt and crushed armour, he hoped that Ahsoka’s search would bring back anything that could turn the tide in their favour, Clones weren’t religious but for the first time in his life Rex found himself praying to the Force or whatever deity existed that he could save just one of the men he was supposed to look after.

After everything the day had bought the last thing Ahsoka thought she’d be doing was looting the dead for medical supplies and anything else she could find, climbing through the wreckage yet again, but this time in hopes of saving someone who had only hours ago, been hell bent on killing her, but what was the difference, she’d saved Rex because he was her friend, Jesse had been too. But with Everything she had seen, the man barely clinging to life, still trying to weakly grasp at Rex’s throat to strangle him, even in the moments of near death he was still compelled to finish his mission. That alone had been the most scarring thing about the entire war, one moment that would stay with her forever; even as she searched the wreckage still littered with the bodies of the men that had once fought by her side. She didn’t even know if Jesse was still alive, he could’ve died moments after she left but she kept searching for anything that might help, she knew she owed to Rex to help, hell she owed it to Jesse too, to every trooper that she came across, it wasn’t their fault. Luck finally found her when she found a crate with the familiar red symbol on it, prying it from the rubble and unclasping the latches she found that it was still full; bacta patches, IV bags, bandages and anything else they could need; she hauled the already heavy rucksack of provisions she had found over her shoulder, lifting the heavy crate she made her way out of the wreckage quickly to head back, hoping that Jesse was still alive; at least for Rex’s sake.

Rex looked up from Jesse when he heard footsteps, he had exhausted the contents of the ship’s med pack quickly as he tried to stop the bleeding. He watched as Ahsoka stopped a few metres away. She looked as exhausted as he felt, she looked down at Jesse apprehensively, eyes following the line from Rex’s wrist to Jesse’s arm.

“Is he...?” she inched closer, unsure of whether to approach or not.

“He’s alive… just. Its ok kid he’s out cold, at least for now. Did you find anything?” Rex’s voice was filled with desperation his eyes brimming with a weariness and grief that Ahsoka had never seen before.

“I found a medical supply crate, still full too.” She approached and knelt next to the pair, opening the crate to unpack it. “I managed to find some more rations, blankets too. I think the nights are going to be cold here so I should get started on setting up camp and building a fire.” She kept her voice low almost nervous to wake the wounded soldier. She paused for a breath looking down at the blood spotted ground. “How is he?”

“I don’t know if he’s going to make it, but I’ll keep trying. Sedated him, started giving him blood and patched up what I could, but he’s going to need a doctor… guess we just have to see if he makes it through the night.” Rex stated in a blunt tone as he reached into the crate readying the IV bag to place into Jesse’s free arm. He looked no better than when Rex had started on him, but at least his vitals had not changed, he was still breathing, heart still beating, for a moment Rex felt a flicker of hope. He set the bag to hang from the landing gear on the ship, a mix of plasma and bacta, there wasn’t much else he could do but watch now, watch and hope that Jesse would make the next 24 hours, as he had heard Kix say so many times, _it’s the first 24 hours that are the most important, if they hold on that long they’ve got a chance._ What a load of difference it had made, Rex knew now that from the moment they were decanted they were all just walking ghosts.


End file.
